I apologize for posting about not being able to start a fermentation again right after the cranberry thing. But the same issue is turning up.
I have spent a week trying to ferment a little under a gallon of Wickson crab apple juice. I got the juice from a local apple orchard (Kiyokawa Orchards) a few years ago. I finally took it out of the freezer to make cider out of it. The juice is raw, unpasteurized, and has no additives of any kind (no sorbate, for example).
I did the usual of hitting it with one campden tablet then hitting it with pectic enzyme twelve hours later. Then I dry pitched from Fresco yeast. A couple of days later, nothing. So I pitched some more. Still nothing. So then I rehydrated some with GoFerm. I stirred in some of the juice and got plenty of foaming from the yeast. So I pitched it in and I got a krausen for a few hours but then.... nothing. At this point it's at least fifteen grams of yeast I blew through.
I stirred the hell out of it and even poured the juice through a sieve into a new jug in case there was too much sulfite. I've used plenty of nutrients including Fermaid K, DAP, and Wyeast wine nutrient.
I'm getting desperate and just rehydrated two packets of Red Star Premier Rouge. After I stirred in some juice I got plenty of foaming and the yeast was quite active. If this doesn't work I don't know what to do.
Has anyone run into this before? I've never had trouble getting a cider fermentation started until now. The only thing I can think of is that the Wickson juice is too acidic. My crummy pH test strips suggested it was between 3.0-3.5 pH.
Is there a yeast that can handle this? I have several different yeasts on hand I can try.
I have spent a week trying to ferment a little under a gallon of Wickson crab apple juice. I got the juice from a local apple orchard (Kiyokawa Orchards) a few years ago. I finally took it out of the freezer to make cider out of it. The juice is raw, unpasteurized, and has no additives of any kind (no sorbate, for example).
I did the usual of hitting it with one campden tablet then hitting it with pectic enzyme twelve hours later. Then I dry pitched from Fresco yeast. A couple of days later, nothing. So I pitched some more. Still nothing. So then I rehydrated some with GoFerm. I stirred in some of the juice and got plenty of foaming from the yeast. So I pitched it in and I got a krausen for a few hours but then.... nothing. At this point it's at least fifteen grams of yeast I blew through.
I stirred the hell out of it and even poured the juice through a sieve into a new jug in case there was too much sulfite. I've used plenty of nutrients including Fermaid K, DAP, and Wyeast wine nutrient.
I'm getting desperate and just rehydrated two packets of Red Star Premier Rouge. After I stirred in some juice I got plenty of foaming and the yeast was quite active. If this doesn't work I don't know what to do.
Has anyone run into this before? I've never had trouble getting a cider fermentation started until now. The only thing I can think of is that the Wickson juice is too acidic. My crummy pH test strips suggested it was between 3.0-3.5 pH.
Is there a yeast that can handle this? I have several different yeasts on hand I can try.
